Method and means for making garments



Dec. 9, 1930. w. H. HEATON METHOD AND MEANS FOR MAKING GARMENTS Filed Oct. 26, 1926 45 desiredresults with said method.

Patented Dec. 9, 1930 WILLIAM H. HEATON, "on

PA E Q r I OAKLAND, CALIF RN A, ASSIGNOR To TUFOAK 'rnonucrs 00., or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 'm A D minus roaMA G- G S Application filed cctoberzs, 1926. serial: K091514332.

. My invention relates to the making of garments such as raincoats from rubberized materials-and especially,though not solely, to a manner of :making garments from the ma terial described in my copending application SerialNoi 144,331, 'filed .October26, 1926, en-

titled, A rubbery material and method of making'same. V

i In'thepastithas been the practice in making garments such as rubber raincoats and the like, to manufacture the rubber;or rubberized fabric therefor-in two distinct steps separated by the tailoring ofthe garment- In the first step-the rubber or rubberized fabric was completelyformed but was left'in its tacky uncured condition. In this condition the ma ,terial was cut, s'et,-.and=formed intogarments,

scribed in my said. copendingapplication, was 'madeinthis manner and formed into garmentsibefore vulcanizing, the rubber face of the finished garment ,was invariably covered with-fuzz collected from the fleecy face ofadjacent material; At times, whenthe materials were allowedto lie in contact with one another forjl'ong, they became so firmly cemented together that thefleecy material was entirely stripped in-separating them, leaving a;bare,face-., r

It is an obj ect of my inventionto overcome the disadvantages of the prior methods of manufacturing rubberized garmentgflby devising a new and improved method; It is further an object of my invention to teach a 'means well-adapted to the production. of the It -isv an ob'ect. of my invention" method; ,of making .jrubberized garments which permits the vulcanizing step tobe accomplished in aminim-um ofjspace and time 5 by. air solely, Y

to'itea'ch a i It is a further-object. of myinvention to devise a method of manufacturing garments having a rubbersurface and a fieecy lining.

It is afurther object of my invention to teacha method and means. for making garmentsabsolutely"waterproof. i

It; is a-furtherobject of my invention --to provide an improved 'sleeve which is both waterproof; and isysealed against entrance of water through its open end and absolutely waterproof at the Wrist; r Other a dancillary objects of my invention will be presented in the following specification and will be suggested by the particular-uses of its disclosure. Certain of its objects may be realized with the use of less than'all its refinements, or with modifications within itspurview. I desire therefore not to be circumscribed-beyond the limits of the claims constituting thefinal determination of my invention;- I

. Referring to the drawing: Figure 1 is a longitudinal mid-section of the end'portion of an improvedwaterproof garment sleeve, illustrating certain refinements in method and means of my invention. Fig. 2 is a magnified edge'view of the rubber cloth in section. I

A sheet of canton flannel 2 having'afleecy face 4 is coated on its sinewy back portion 3 witha layer of rubber 6. The material in this conditi0n,-instead of being out and formed into garments, is rolled into large bolts that are "placed in a ,vulcanizing chamber to be cured. Special precautions must be taken in this step of manufacture; and these are outlined in my said copending application.

It-is especially to be noted that means are provided to prevent contact betweemand to separately and in spaced relation within the vulcanizing chamber, my method permits a marked saving in. space and therefore in cost.

'After removal of the processing auxiliariesythe material is in finished condition readyfor sale like. any other dry-goods cloth and requires no further treating after being madeinto garments... .A central, plantmay produce this material economically in large qi liantities anddistribute it to specialists in i realized by the steps of my method so far cured. Thesealise I we '7 for ordinary purposes but the rubber surface must be finishedto a hardiwearsresisting face, and so cannot'be made of material sufe manufacture of raincoats, of gloves, or of other products. The material is then tailored 'or fashioned, into garments as the last step in manufacture;

1 A certain advantage of the pastart, not

disclosed, resides in the fact that garments formed of uncured rubber 'te'nd itosealitheni selves against lea-kziiige at the stainswhen" ective enough asarule,

ficient ly'tacky' to absolutely in'sure a wateri proof surface adhesion in these ams'. I'have attained an absolutelyfleakproof seam, il-

a layer 12,61? iair curing" tacky rubber gum i I lu strated in Fig 1, by folding'th dge 8 of a garment sothat its rub-.8

bersurface 6 is atj the'outsid'e ofthe fold. A

applied to the fold: v The portion of rubberize'd cloth 1430 be j oined, is then placed with its-rubber face againstthe layer 12, and the three elements are sewed together byastitch';

ingdli whichfpas'seis' through, and in time becomes vulcanized into, the fair-cur ng gum 12.1 The section318,-of material, is' joined to the "sleeve portion 10 by folding its edge52O similar to the edge 8, and' seWing -thetWo folded'ed'ges together with aportion ofthe tack' gum interposed therebetween. The stitc ing16 passes throughtheilayers ofeach" piece of material; The gum 12hasno structural function to performand eanjbe madef gummy enough f-to form an efi'ective waterproof seal. It is important that an air curing gum be used so that no 'vulcanizingi heat "need be applied to'the finished garment. My method and meanswillbe made clearer bv a'concrete explanation of its illustrated application. The sleeve illustrated 'imthe drawing 'is adapted forfiremens or-fishermenscoatswherein ahigh degree'of water-' proofing is required. The portion-l l of rub eriz'ed cl'o'thijs anfinner sleeve attached in I telescopingrelation within the sleeve 10.

Its* rubber *surface .61 revents leakage through; the inner sleeve, t e layer of rubber I gam 12 prevents leakagebetween the"two "sleeves'fand agwide annular waterproof fabric reinforced rubber band 26 at the wrist j end'of the inner sleeve hugs'the wrist of the wearer? and prevents leakage between the inner-sleeve and the arm of the weareryf l pream use a fabric reinforced rubber-surfaced material "such asthat disclosed in patant No.1,220,372 issued March 27,, 1917, to

CJSquiresl 5 The barid26 is secured to the isii'iterposed'toinsure a watertight s al; It

be'understood that the thickness of. fabric and seams has been greatly exaggerated 0} clarity of illustration: The inside of the inner sleeve presents a nominally smooth surface so that the hand or closed fist may be thrust through the sleeve opening. In withdrawing the hand from the sleeve, the inner sleeve ivverses itself tothe' dotted line positionv32 sliown in thedrawing; so that the handz ma'y be pulled straight out without a carefully, holding the; sleeves and expanding. ':;it;'i:1he inner sleeve will resume itsnormal position without further attention when the 7 hand is neat thrust, through the sleeve.

Certain features ofthis innersleeve are i.old ,;o,but; I have generally improved upon the prior art, making use of the improved materials and Inethods' of 'my invention, to producean absolutelyfleakproof sleeve at the wrist-"as well 7 as at the aseamszw A common test of its' efiectiveness, in a' 'coatis secured when the ,wearers forearm is ihel d verticall beneath "a water dri or in gamer f'n'einensv v and 181fills' with water but the inside pordr T i laimg liw v ii I v; 1. In'ra waterproofcrgarinent formed of rubber-coated fclo th," avsleeve-like limb-ention" of the sleeve at irenrains ,p rfeo ly iise.-'- The sleeve en betweenthe'sectionsM V casing inember comprising an uppertubular portion, a lower tubular portion i abuttin 'said' first lower rtion' and roviding: a 1 7 e5 7 iim-b of the wearer, all of said 'portions having onlyv't-he outer, portions being foldedinwardly todisrubber surfaces thereof in opposition to thatdf the'innerportio g "In 'awaterproof garment formed of rub- "bee-c ated cloth, a *sleeve-like limb-encasing m mber *eomprising j an upper tubular per- 'tion, a lower tubular portionabut ting said upper, portioiiasa' continuation thereof; and a second lowerportion within said k first lower androvidin a' 'small end adapted to hug-the l mb "on e wearer,

surfaces. thereof rubber coated and the-larger end of inner"lowerv portionbeing-stitohed to both; of said 'outer portions at their point -of abutment for securing the three portions together; tIi sea-mi edges of said outerf per.

all of said portions having only the'outer V tions' j being ifolde'd inwardly to dispose the v 'rubber surfacesf thereof in opposition 'tolthat of the inner portion and a'layea of air curing i wfrub snga edi' uee i e a m 'tions' and inneraportion atithe stitching for s aling thejjointthereatyf ""3. The ethodT-offniaking a wat'e roof seam at thejunctureoftwd pieoesof abric having a waterproof surface, which comprises folding back the seam edge of one of the pieces with its waterproof surface on the outside ofthe fold, disposing said'seam edge to have its waterproof surface in opposition to the waterproof surface of the seam edge of the other piece, applying a preformed sheet of air-curing waterproofing material between and in contact with the opposed waterproofed surfaces of said edges, and stitching said edges together through said sheet to complete the seam.

- 4. A method of making Waterproof seams between pieces of rubber-faced fabric-backed cloth, which comprises folding back the seam edge of one piece with its rubber face on the outside of the fold, disposing said edge I to have its rubber face in opposition to the rubber-faced seam edge of the other piece, interposing a preformed and relatively thick layer of an air-curing rubber composition between and in contact with the rubberfaced surfaces of two edges of the cloth to be joined, and sewing said edges to each other with the stitching passing completely through said sheet and the opposed cloth portions.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature.

WILLIAM H. HEATON. 

